Crest Intergalactica
by DCWestby
Summary: A crest of the Stars/Interim Saga X over. In CotS, we don't get much insight into character thoughts. I will attempt to rectify this as I write. Begins around the time of the Battle of the Gosroth.


From the time The Patrolship Gosroth is in the planespace. Crest of the Stars is copyright those who own it. Other characters you may see are of my own creation or maybe copyrighted to those who created them. Also, a note about my code for changes of scene..  
**UC/SC/PC Universe/Scene/Perspective Change**

While I realize that seeing these labels may get irritating, as the story goes further on, I decrease the amount of these labels seen, keep in mind the reason for the labels is because ffn shot down most of the favored separation symbols. Also, if you'd like to be a proofreader, let me know.

_**Crest Intergalactica**_

A dark room with a desk is lit only by the huge veiwport toward the galaxy. Behind this desk is obviously a person who is watching over the view. "Power, all humans, no matter their race, color, genetics. They all desire power over others, they desire power over those they fear. We humans are fools to think we can lord over others... End Journal recording." He turned to face the interior of the room. "Bridge, Admiral Hawklyn here, preparations for the jump complete?"

"Yes sir. The trans-galactic Drive is ready for testing."

The Admiral stood, "Very well, I will be there in a minute." As he exited his quarters, His mind dwelled on what would happen in a few minutes. The Trans-Galactic Drive was supposed to cut the time of travel between the satilite and main galaxies by creating a timespace bubble wormhole. Admittedly, this sort of experiment was Grade A Dangerous, but that's what experiments were for, To get the bugs out of the system.

**UC**  
_A different time and different space._

The Gosroth was alone in planespace, just the way the Captain liked it, sadly, it would be short lived as sensors picked up abberations nearby. "Captain," The Abh sensor officer started in the dry monotone that all Abh seem known for. "We have picked up enough spacetime bubbles, that in terms of fleets, they'd equal 4 vessels, all heading for Sufugnoff."

**UC**  
_Back at the Galactic Drive test_

Admiral Zethrodraithius Hawklyn stood on the bridge of His Flagship paying special attention to the engineering section where all the action was. Various people were finalizing the settings before the test was to take place. The Admiral glanced at the huge time readout and sat down in his chair. Ten more minutes to go.

**UC**  
_With the Gosroth_

An alert buzzer sounded within the captain's quarters forcing Plakia from her rest and into action, quickly dressing as she connected to the bridge for an update on the situation. "Lairia, what does the situation look like now?"

"Captain, one of the space time clusters has diverged from its former heading and split into individual space time bubbles approximately the size for attack vessels. At the current rate of intercept, they will not be within range of our mines until 21:15."

Captain Lexshue finished securing her uniform top and entered the lift, "Ok, I'm coming up to the bridge. Combat status should be set to 2." Lairia's acknowledgement was barely heard before the Captain connected to her descendant, "Pilot Trainee Abriel, please find his Excellency and escort him up to the bridge." Lafiel's accepting reply was overshadowed by the lift doors opening to reveal the bridge beyond.

"Captain, we are picking up a very slight disturbance sternside around 9000 wesdaj away. I'm going to keep a watch on it and notify you should anything change."

"Very well, keep me informed-" The hissing of the bridge doors informed her that Lafiel and the Count had arrived.

The Captain watched her daughter go to the shuttle bay area and sighed inwardly. Mentally she winced at what she'd just done, having seen the shock in Lafiel's eyes as she'd dressed her down. She then directed the Count to take only personal effects that were needed and gave him two laser pistols and bid him farewell. However she could see that in his eyes, there was a glimmer of premonition before he turned away to go. '_Farewell young Prince, Protect my precious daughter as she protects you.'  
_

**SC**

In the transport shuttlebay, Lafiel was slowing coming out of her shock and going into a depression. Over the past week, things had been happening nearly too fast for her to keep track of it all. Especially since the Cou- Jinto she corrected herself- had been aboard and therefore most of the time in her care. She had checked on up on him every so often, and seemed to be adjusting fairly well. She would sit with im in the cafeteria to eat, and occasionally The Captain would join them. Things however, just seemed to be hitting her too fast lately. In some small part of her mind, she wondered if this was planned out for her too.

She sighed as she got in the shuttlecrafts command cabin to make her checks and then called The Captain, "Captain, Pilot Trainee Abriel here, The shuttle is ready." She absently noted the Captain's reply that Jinto was on his way and acknowledged it just before she noted Jinto's presence enter the shuttle. "Transfer Shuttle is launching now." She dropped the shuttle into space from the shuttlebay as Jinto dropped into the seat beside her, flying away from the Gosroth.

**UC**  
_Trans-Galactic Drive Test Area_

"So what you're saying is the entire process is unknown?" The man nodded to Hawklyn's question as the Admiral grimaced a bit and glanced to the clock. "Very well, I wish you would have told me a great deal of time ago about this doctor. Let's hope the anti-matter generator works, otherwise..."

The Admiral turned and went to his command seat, "All ships of the Seventh fleet, what we are here today for is an experimental test on a massive scale. As you know, most of your ships are either 3 miles from bow to stern or larger. What you don't know is that each ship here, all 700 of them have been outfitted for this test with similar drive equipment to this flagship. Now, as to why only 10 percent of the entire fleet is here. It would be a very heinous thing to do lose an entire fleet that represents several hundred trillion dollars of investment. Anyways, your ships engines will be slaved to the flagship for this test, so please direct your helm officer to keep his hands away from the controls. Hand him a datapad to read or something for all I know. As this is the first time this equipment has been tested, I have no idea where we are going to end up. So therefore I strongly recommend that all ships use standard hyper drive rules, but since this is a test and we don't know how cloaking will affect the TGD. Do not go into cloak until we have come out the other side." He paused and looked out at the swirling galaxy before him before continuing.

"Again, all ships close all viewport bulkheads. Whether you have 7 layers of hull and armor or 22 layers between you and the outside, it does not matter. For we will be relying on our sensors to tell where we are. Fleet Captains, prepare your ships, tell your helms to go on break. DriveSlave is now operating." Hawklyn sat down and looked toward the helm, "Are all ships hooked in?"

"Yes sir, all ships are plugged in."

Hawklyn looked toward engineering, "You may begin anytime, Activate the TGD!"

"Trans-Galactic Drive activating... Anti-matter hole generatior temperature normal but rising." Outside, in front of the 707 ship fleet, a navy blue swirling dervish appeared. As it grew, the color began to get brighter and brighter. Inside, the engineers were concerned. "Its at high normal and still climbing Sir." The chief engineer looked over to the Admiral, "Just remember Admiral, that we cannot shut this down once started. So if it goes awry, we don't know what will happen."

The admiral looked concernedly to the screen depicted the wild and growing leviethan that they had sprung, "Understood." Right after that came an unwelcome suprise.

"Sir! Anti-Matter generator nearing overheat shutdown!"

"What?! Didn't you set it for seven hundred and seven ships?"

"But this generator can only safely handle 700 ships, that much we know!"

Hawklyn frowned then snapped, "Disable the failsafes! You told me yourself this procedure could not be stopped Chief, Therefore the failsafes must come off!" The engineer stood at attention and saluted fearfully before doing as ordered.

**SC**

Outside, the anti-matter was cutting a hole into space time and slowly, the fleet that went beyond what the eye could ever see disappeared into a white hole of Anti-matter. Then, where the fleet had been was returned to normal space, as if it had never been there at all.

Elsewhere, in the unforeseen distance, an OSF observer ship began the journey back to report on the test.

**UC**  
_Back in the area of the Gosroth_

Within the waterlike texture of Plane Space, a swirling maelstrom appeared and began slowly expanding outward. Internal effects becoming visible as the whirlpool doubled, then tripled in size, energy warped visibly within the mouth of the violent anomaly. In no time at all, it was detectable by anything in the local planespace area.

**PC**

"Captain? We've detected an anomaly about 9000 wesdaj away. It appears to some sort of anit-matter...wormhole?" Captain Lexshue arched a brow and pondered the situation, "We've got 13 United Mankind bubbles to deal with. Now an unknown... I would like to know if this unknown anomaly changes at all." Lairia nodded, "It will be watched Captain."

While the United Mankind ships closed with the Gosroth, the wormhole increased with size, energetic activity and intensity. Just when anti-matter monitors aboard the Gosroth were about to off, the storming whirlpool evaporated after expelling what look like a good sized fleet.

**PC**

"First off, what the hell happened? That was some lightshow there... Drive status? Location?" The Fleet Admiral stood up and began pacing, occassionally looking at the viewscreen.

"Sir," A mid-level tech bravely voiced, looking like his dog had been run over even before the dog had stepped into the street, "The Anti-matter tunnel generator is suffering major damage, also the dark matter fuel tanks are empty."

"Sir, sensors indicate... Well, um... We have absolutely no idea where we are Admiral, aside from a few ships nearby as reference points and some weird points of light. There is nothing else around."

Admiral Hawklyn frowned and stroked his beard, "So we're stranded somewhere in the unvierse... Communications, please start sending the following message with an auto alert upon reply signal."

"Yes sir, ready to record."

The Admiral nodded and began to speak, "Greetings to those unknown entities near us. This is Fleet Admiral Hawklyn of the Orion Space Fleet commanding the 7th fleet of the Orion Space Empire. We are regretful that we must seek navigational and mechanical aid and assistance. Please reply as soon as possible." He looked toward the communications desk, "That is all. Begin transmission."

**PC**

Onboard the Gosroth, confusion was the theme of the day as Captain Lexshue stood behind the radar officer's terminal and peered into the sensor map. "The anomaly disappeared Captain, leaving what the computer estimates to be 100 ships at minimum-"

A sharp gasp brought the Captain's attention to the communication officer's suprised visage, "We are receiving a general broadcast that appears to be coming from the unknown ships... It seems as though they are seeking mechanical and navigation assistance-"

"Captain! The enemy ships have encircled us-"

"Send a reply to the unknown ships that, assuming we make it out alive. We will render aid to them." Lexshue turned and addressed her weapons officers, "Assign each mine a target and..."

**PC**

Within the depths of the _OSF Starbound_, the communications section concentrated on the surrounding planespace. Eventually, a signal was recieved. "Sir, we received two communications. The first one replies and implies they are under attack, but should they survive. They will come to our assistance. The second reply... Well, it asks us if we have proper maps and supplies to fix what we need-"

Hawklyn was quite decisive, "Ignore the second message. Sensors, begin recording the sensor data. Communications, contact Admiral Sey'run, He will be in charge of collecting and organizing the navigational data that we record." The Admiral took a breath and looked around the C shaped bridge. Officers going over various aspects of fleet and ship operation, most of whom being hunched over their terminals. It all seemed a bit surreal in the glow of the blue bridge lights. Looking up at the bridge ceiling, where the sensor generated map of the region was displayed, Hawklyn watched as a battle played itself out.

"Sir, if I may say so, things don't look good for the prey ship." The executive officer offered from a few feet away while gazing up at the sensor map.

The Admiral nodded, "It appears however that the prey ship is taking the predators to their graves with it." The tall fleet overlord suddenly got an idea, and moving to his command chair, he started looking at a particular ship function. "Hmm, yes, that just might work." He looked up to a questioning gaze and smiled. "I think I know how we can get out of this situation." Hawklyn allowed the second in command a better look while he explained the idea.

**PC**  
_In the Pelia of Gosroth_

"Listen Lafiel." Jinto tried his best to sound convincing, "I'm sure the Gosroth will come out of this ok." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, noting she was about as stoic as before. "We'll see the Captain at the Capitol, I'm sure of it." He grimaced internally, wishing the voice that disagreed with his words would shut up, and looked out toward the grey bulkhead waiting for Lafiel to say something.

Lafiel finally looked up, having sensed the silence being a bit oppressive between them and addressed him. "Hey Jinto, want to know a bit more of my Birth Secret?"

Jinto looked over and saw that she was leaning towards him as if preparing to share a conspiracy theory. So, hoping to sound encouraging, he inclined his head towards hers with a reply, "Sure! I love secrets!"

Lafiel remained smiling and continued a subject last left off from their trip to the Gosroth, "Well, the one who donated her genes for my creation is Captain Lexshue."

Jinto sat there processing her statement, "Wow... Ya know, now that you mention it, The Captain did bear a faint resemblance to you Lafiel."

She nodded and repositioned herself while she answered, "Well, now you know that I'm a Daughter of Love." She then smiled quickly and checked the distance to the nearest friendly Sord, "Jinto, we are now only 12 hours from the place we will refuel at. Time will be extremely limited for a stop over."

The Count looked over at her, "Why?"

"Because," The young Abh Princess stated with patience that, unknown to her passenger, was strating to fray. "We need to get to Sufugnoff so you can get a ship from there to the capitol."

Jinto looked at Lafiel, his eyes betraying his mind for a second before forcing them on the straight and narrow, and much to Lafiel's chagrin, asked. "How long do you think we will be able to stop here for?"

Lafiel bit off a reply and forced herself to respond calmly, "Only thirty minutes, if not less. Only time enough really to maybe bathe-"

Jinto heard that and couldn't resist teasing her a bit. After all, she didn't really smell that bad, but... "Sweet! A hot bath is a great idea, since you're likely the smelliest pilot in the ga-"

Lafiel's head whipped around to pin Jinto with two glowing onyx pits, "If you finish that sentence," She growled menacingly, "I will gladly help you die."

Count or not, one's social status does not protect from a woman's temper, Jinto mentally noted while he attempted to placate the Princess. "Um, I really didn't mean that Lafiel, I'm sorry for teasing you." He lowered his head a bit, "I was kidding, and I likely need a bath just as much as you do." He raised his head to find her large eyes staring into his own. "I'm sorry Lafiel." He murmured quietly while gazing into her black eyes. He waited, and with nary a sound, Lafiel faced forward again.

"Might I remind you Jinto," She said stonily, "I dislike being teased." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and satisfied she had beaten him vocally enough, added. "However, I shall forgive you this time." She glanced at the instruments, then looked sidelong at Jinto, who seemed to be lost in thought. She turned her attention to the information screen in front of her while internally replaying the last few minutes in her mind. She could see something in his eyes, yet it eluded her understanding, so she'd kept looking. She really didn't mind being teased by him, but the comment he made was rather rude to any person. Internally she settled in for a quiet rest of the way to the Febdash Barony, '_I'm sorry Count, but I was teasing you too.'_

(A/N: The last part was paraphrased from Seikai no Monshou #1 "Princess of The Empire" as well as partially taken from the anime version. I decided to include thoughts from both Jinto and Lafiel, because neither the novel or the anime really reveal their thoughts until later in the series. As for Admiral Hawklyn's idea, stayed tuned for the next chapter.)


End file.
